Abstract: In order to get night vision images with natural color, color night vision technology has become a hotspot in the field of night vision technology. The development of night vision technology and the technical means of obtaining natural color night vision images are introduced. It can be divided into hardware mode and software synthesis mode.The software methods are mainly based on multi-sensor image fusion and color transfer.The technical schemes of both the modes are introduced in detail.The technical prospect of color night vision technology is also given.